No Boundaries International Art Colony gets new leadership

Published: Friday, August 16, 2013 at 12:25 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 16, 2013 at 12:25 p.m.

In 1998, Wilmington artists Dick Roberts, Pam Toll and Gayle Tustin started the No Boundaries International Art Colony by inviting 26 international, national and local artists to Bald Head Island for two weeks of communal art making. Since then, the colony has become an annual November tradition on the island.

Now, after hosting more than 100 regional, national and international artists from 26 countries and four continents, Toll and Tustin have stepped down as No Boundaries' primary organizers, providing the not-for-profit group with new leadership for the first time since its inception.

"It needed some fresh life," Tustin said. "Since 1998, we've been doing it for the love of art … Our payback was not financial; it was through connections and broadening horizons of local artists and artists around the world."

In December, Toll and Tustin appointed Wilmington artist Michelle Connolly as the new president of the non-profit that runs No Boundaries. (Roberts stepped down from the board a couple of years ago). An attendee of past colonies, Connolly said "it just took my breath away" the first time she visited No Boundaries, "all these people out there. And I realized then how much work was involved."

Along with Toll and Tustin, who remain on the advisory board, Connolly has assembled a mix of artist and non-artist types including Lane Patterson, Sue Prendergast, Jonathan Summit and Beth Crookham. Through their efforts, the new board is making changes to No Boundaries in hopes of growing its prestige.

"The hope is that the colony itself remains relatively unchanged," said Crookham, the board's vice president. "The change is really on the operation side of it. There's more structure and formality to the procedures by which things happen, and it is partly our understanding that after getting all those pieces locked down, you can put more energy into the creative element of it."

Previously, international artists were only invited every other year. This was due in part to limited funding. In addition to food and board, No Boundaries supplies art materials for national and international artists.

In the past, many local artists with other obligations haven't been able to commit to the colony's full two weeks, resulting in large groups of part-time residents. Now, the board plans to invite a consistent ratio of 16 local, regional, national and international artists who can commit to the full two weeks each year. This year's full lineup will be announced in October.

The board also plans to make its application process more transparent. Any visual artist can apply online at www.NBIAC.org.

In addition to obtaining sponsorships and donations, No Boundaries generates funds through the sale of art created at past colonies. Crookham has been hard at work documenting more than original 350 No Boundaries artworks, with 260 of these available for purchase. Some of those works are on display at downtown Wilmington restaurant Manna, 123 Princess St.

No Boundaries is also working to align itself with more local organizations. It's an effort to involve the community with the diverse group of artists the colony attracts while growing public awareness.

"One of the ways we will know if we have accomplished our goal is if in the next five years the national and international art world beyond Wilmington starts to seek out Bald Head Island in early November," Crookham said. "That will be part of how we know if we've done our job, that the art world has become aware of No Boundaries, and that the art world says, ‘We want to know who's coming. Who's coming this year?'"

With these changes, Connolly said that she and the board hope to set up No Boundaries for a long future.

"It is a gift to the artists," Connolly said. "I don't want that gift to be thrown away. We need to cherish it and make sure it lives on."

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